Animal Toys from Eric Carle

Eric Carle (born June 25, 1929) is an American designer, illustrator, and writer of children's books.

He is most famous for The Very Hungry Caterpillar, a picture book with few words that has been translated into more than 50 languages. Since it was published in 1969 he has illustrated more than 70 books, most of which he also wrote, and more than 103 million copies of his books have been sold around the world.

Eric Carle was born in 1929 to German immigrants Johanna and Erich Carle in Syracuse, New York.

Early in life he landed a job as graphic designer in the promotion department of The New York Times. He was drafted into the U.S. Army during the Korean War and stationed in Germany with the Second Armored Division as a mail clerk. After discharge he returned to his old job with The New York Times. Later he became the art director of an advertising agency.

Educator and author Bill Martin Jr., after noticing an illustration of a red lobster Carle had created for an advertisement, asked him to illustrate a story. Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? was the result of their collaboration, and became a best-seller. This began Carle's true career - soon he was writing and illustrating his own stories. His first wholly original book was 1,2,3 to the Zoo, followed quickly by The Very Hungry Caterpillar.

Eric Carle’s art is distinctive and instantly recognizable. His art work is created in collage technique, using hand-painted papers, which he cuts and layers to form bright and colorful images. Many of his books have an added dimension—die-cut pages, twinkling lights as in The Very Lonely Firefly, even the lifelike sound of a cricket’s song as in The Very Quiet Cricket.